Hitherto, various toilet accessories have widely been used to add sanitary and/or electric functions to the conventional toilets thereby to provide comfortable toilets. Such accessories include bidet systems, warmed water forming devices therefor, hot air blowers, bowl ventilation devices, deodorizers, heated toilet seats, and toilet room heaters.
Typically, a housing for the accessory is mounted on the upper surface of a toilet bowl fixture between a bowl section of the fixture and a flushing water supply section located rearwardly of the bowl and one or more toilet accessories are arranged in the housing. For example, in a toilet described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,628,548 to Kurosawa et al, a bidet system having a movable nozzle is arranged in the housing to eject a spray of water toward the perineal part of the user seated on the toilet seat so as to wash the anus and/or the vagina after defecation or urination. The housing also receives a warmed water reservoir for supplying warmed water to the nozzle, a hot air blower for drying the perineal part after use of the bidet system, a power source for the accessories and an electric control device.
A toilet seat and a toilet lid are pivoted to the accessory housing by associated hinge mechanisms. Generally, a hinge mechanism is designed in such a manner that the toilet seat and the lid may be removed from the housing for the purpose of cleaning. To this end, the hinge pin is removably press-fitted in a bore of the housing. However, removal of the hinge pin in an attempt to detach the toilet seat and lid requires use of a tool such as a screw driver and pliers so that it is difficult, if not possible at all, for an ordinary user, such as a housewife, to remove the hinge pin in the course of routine household affairs. Furthermore, in many instances, the hinge pin is coupled to the housing by means of a pivoting movement control mechanism to prevent an abrupt closure of the toilet seat and lid, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,010,601 to Kobayashi et al. In these instances, even a fairly skilled user would be discouraged from attempting to remove the hinge pin. In order to bravely dismount the toilet seat and lid, the hinge pin must be carefully pulled out with reference to a user's manual. If it is not clear how to remove the hinge pin, the toilet seat and lid may be detached only with a potential risk of damaging the component parts.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,471,874 to Dixon discloses a hinge structure designed to enable even a housewife to easily remove the toilet seat and lid. In this structure, a pair of seat posts each having U-shaped jaws are mounted to the bowl fixture. The toilet seat has a pair of hinge pins which has a unique cross section defined by two flat sides and two circular sides to ensure that the hinge pins may be disengaged from the U-shaped jaws of the seat posts and re-engaged when the toilet seat is rotated at a prescribed angle coincident with the apertures of the U-shaped jaws. The brackets of the toilet lid are also provided with the U-shaped jaws which are removably engaged with the hinge pins of the toilet seat.
This hinge structure enjoys the advantage that the toilet seat and the lid may readily be removed whenever desired without using a tool such as a screw driver and a wrench. However, one of the disadvantages is that the inner surface of the U-shaped jaws of the seat posts is not readily accessible from the outside. In the event that the seat posts are fouled by urine splashed too far during urination by a male, it is difficult to wipe and clean the inner surface of the jaws of the seat posts. Another shortcoming is that the toilet seat and the toilet lid cannot be dismounted separately but, instead, the seat and the lid as combined together can be dismounted from the seat posts only jointly, the seat and the lid being then separable from each other. Accordingly, it will be discouraging for a user of weak muscle such as a housewife or a handicapped to dismount the toilet seat and the lid for routine cleaning of the toilet. Furthermore, two steps of operations, i.e., rotation and pull, are required in order to dismount the toilet seat and the lid. If the toilet seat is carelessly rotated when the two flat sides of the hinge pin of the seat are engaged within the slot formed between the jaws of the seat posts or of the toilet lid, there is a risk that the jaws are damaged or broken.
Accordingly, the primary object of the invention is to provide a combined toilet seat and accessory assembly having a hinge mechanism which is simple in structure and which is easy to clean.
Another object of the invention is to provide a hinge structure for the assembly, which permits the toilet seat and the toilet lid to be dismounted from the housing and re-installed thereto separately from each other.
A still another object of the invention is to provide a hinge structure for the assembly, by which the toilet seat and/or the toilet lid may be readily detached from the housing and readily re-installed thereto by a single operation.
A further object of the invention is to provide a hinge structure which enables the toilet seat and/or the toilet lid to be readily removed from and re-installed to the housing regardless of the angular position thereof.